Bar Council Gives Clean Chit to Lawyers in Punjab and Haryana High Court Forum Shopping Row

Punjab & Haryana Bar Council Dismisses Bench Hunting Claims Against Advocates and M3M Officials

Chandigarh, November 15, 2025 – The Privilege Committee of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council has fully cleared 17 advocates and two executives from real estate firm M3M in a probe sparked by suspicions of bench hunting at the High Court. The panel’s ruling on November 13 found no proof of deliberate efforts to influence case assignments, bringing an end to a controversy that had stirred the region’s legal circles for months.

Prominent names such as Senior Advocates Rakesh Nehra and Puneet Bali were among those investigated after claims surfaced that counsel were maneuvering to avoid certain benches in a high-stakes petition filed by M3M. The committee noted that the accusations stemmed largely from news articles rather than verifiable court records, describing the reports as “devoid of probative value.”

How the Dispute Unfolded

The matter originated in April 2023 when the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau lodged a case against M3M Director Roop Bansal and others, including a retired special judge, over alleged corrupt practices. Bansal moved the High Court through CRM-M-19843-2025 to cancel the FIR.

In May 2025, Chief Justice Sheel Nagu reassigned the petition from Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu—after multiple hearings and a reserved verdict—to a different bench. Media coverage of the CJ’s observations raised eyebrows, with terms like “bench hunting” entering public discourse. The phrase describes attempts to direct cases toward judges seen as more receptive, a practice widely frowned upon for eroding public trust in the judiciary.

The file reportedly changed hands five times, prompting murmurs within the Bar about procedural lapses. Senior lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi had represented Bansal on separate occasions, adding to the spotlight.

Bar Council Steps In

Bar Council Chairman Rakesh Gupta formed the Privilege Committee on August 4, 2025, under Raj Kumar Chauhan to examine the issue on its own initiative. Notices went out to 16 local advocates—J.K. Singla, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Aditya Aggarwal, Gagandeep Singh, Anmol Chandan, Baljeet Beniwal, Harsh Sharma, Sauhard Singh, Rupender Singh, Ankit Yadav, Ashim Singla, Aakash Sharma, Bindu, APS Shergil, and the two seniors already mentioned—plus Singhvi and Rohatgi. The two M3M directors also faced scrutiny.

Early proceedings brought partial relief: Nehra and Bali were discharged on August 26 for want of initial evidence. The panel later roped in three Delhi-based lawyers—Gulshan Sachdeva, Siddharth Bhardwaj, and Kunal Dawar—suspected of coordinating local appearances.

The Bar Council of India requested case files on August 18 for oversight, but the state body continued its independent review of orders, affidavits, and roster patterns.

Committee’s Verdict: No Malice Found

After sifting through the timeline, the committee concluded that bench shifts resulted from standard roster adjustments, not collusion. “Nothing in the material before us points to orchestrated misconduct by any advocate or party,” the order read, cautioning against reputational harm from unsubstantiated stories.

It invited future complaints through formal routes—email at privilegecommitteebcph@gmail.com or WhatsApp at 77400-03408—while stressing the need for evidence over speculation.

Wider Echoes

Lawyers welcomed the outcome as a safeguard for professional autonomy. “Discipline must rest on facts, not headlines,” one advocate remarked off-record to NewsArc. Yet the episode has revived calls for tighter listing protocols at the High Court, which serves more than 150,000 enrolled members across Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.

M3M has not issued a statement but persists with its challenge to the ACB case. The clearance underscores the thin line between zealous representation and ethical overreach in a system strained by volume and visibility.

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